An Empty Heart & a Chipped Cup
by Alyianna Baggins
Summary: Rumpelstiltskin thought he could forget his past and be happy as the Dark One. Belle was comfortable with her pampered princess life, but still longed for adventure. Each thought he or she could stay in his or her comfort zone...until their worlds collided.
1. Chapter 1: Rumpelstiltskin

**Chapter One: Rumpelstiltskin**

Rumpelstiltskin wasn't watching the view outside as his black carriage rumbled on towards the castle that was coming closer and closer by. Even though there was a war going on, nobody would dare touch his carriage. Nobody would dare cross the Dark One.

He had taken on the position a long time ago, the only reason being for the power. Maybe it was also to try to forget Milah, the wife he had loved so much but who had been stolen away from him by the villainous Captain Hook. Well, Rumple HAD gotten on Hook's bad side by stealing his wife...but that gave Hook no right to take away his beloved Milah.

Then, to get that power, Rumple had had to abandon his beloved son, but one had to make sacrifices to get power, right? This time, he would be so powerful that he wouldn't have to feel the pain of losing someone. No one could defeat him, even the Evil Queen had to bow to him. If people wanted to get away from something nasty, they would ask Rumple to help them in return for something. And Rumple never refused because he LOVED making deals. He would never let anyone leave their end of the deal...otherwise, their lives would be made very nasty. That was the reason Rumple had taken Hook's wife away from him...he hadn't kept his end of a deal.

Now, he was travelling to the place of his next deal. King Maurice had sent a desperate message to him for help. He had added a postscript saying that he would give Rumple much gold in return for his efforts. Rumple, however, didn't want the gold. He had a much better idea, in fact...


	2. Chapter 2: Belle

Belle watched her father worriedly. King Maurice studied a map, his advisors behind him. Her fiancee, Gaston, was also looking at the map intently, his bushy brown brows furrowed together.

"The ogres are coming closer, Your Majesty," Maurice's top advisor stated. "Do you think we can hold them off?"

"Ogres are not men," said Maurice, wearily.

"If only he had come," Gaston's voice had no hope in it. Belle knew very well who he was talking about. Rumpelstiltskin...the Dark One...the most powerful man in all of this land. The only person who could help them because of his power.

"Well, he didn't," Maurice's voice was full of hate for the one creature who could have helped him, but didn't. He sat on his throne and buried his face in his hands.

Belle's heart went out to her father; she desperately wanted to make him feel better. Women were supposed to be seen and not heard, just like children, but she was a daring young woman. She knelt down at her father's feet and voiced her thoughts aloud, a little timidly.

"He could be on his way right now, Papa."

Maurice lifted his head up to look at his beloved brunette daughter. He looked straight into her lovely blue eyes, and opened his mouth to tell her the desperate truth. No use hiding it from her.

"It's just too late, Belle." His voice was weary. "It's just...too late." He raised out a hand to stroke her head to try to comfort her for the last time.

Suddenly, a great banging broke out, as if someone were trying to break the door down by knocking on it. Everyone jumped, Belle and Maurice to their feet.

Belle's blue eyes filled with hope. "It must be him! It HAS to be!"

Gaston, however, was not convinced. "How could he get past the walls?" he marvelled.

"Open the doors!" Maurice commanded. They all drew near as two knights removed a wooden piece from the door which had been put in place to protect the royals. Gaston drew out his sword.

The knights threw the doors open. Standing there was...no one. One of the advisors started to cry out, "Whaa...?" and then stopped himself. Belle looked at her father as if to ask him the question that was on everyone's minds: Who could have been at the door who would have gone away right afterwards?

"Well, that was a bit of let-down," came a voice from behind them.

Everyone swivelled around. Sitting on Maurice's throne was a freak-ish-looking man. His hair almost looked as if it were made of snakes, his skin looked like the rough skin of a toad with gold specks on it. His jacket was made of red leather, the collar standing straight up. The shirt underneath was made of a silver and black design.

It was Rumpelstiltskin himself.

They were all still gaping at this creature, so Rumpelstiltskin went on.

"You sent me a message?" he prodded. "Something about 'Help, help! We're dying! Can you save us?' " he mimicked in a way that would have been almost funny if the situation weren't so dark.

Gaston had pointed his sword towards the creature, and now Rumpelstiltskin stood up towards it.

"And my answer is..." He slapped at the flat of Gaston's sword to make the young man lower it. "...Yes."

Belle suddenly realized she had been holding her breath. It came out now in a woosh.

"Yes, I can protect your little kingdom," Rumpelstiltskin assured them with a devilish grin on his face. He stalked a little farther down the room, and then turned around and faced the king and his daughter. "For a price."

"We sent you a promise of gold," King Maurice took a brave step towards the creature. His plump face was pleading.

"Ah...but you see, I make gold." Rumpelstiltskin winked at the king. "So that obviously wouldn't be worth anything to me. What I want is something a bit more special."

To Belle's horror, the face of a devil looked right at her and an all-powerful finger pointed at her. "What I want - is her."

"No!" King Maurice looked at Rumpelstiltksin with a look of disgust on his face.

Gaston put a protective arm on Belle's shoulder. "The young lady is engaged...to me."

"I wasn't asking if she was engaged," Rumpelstiltskin mimicked Gaston's deep voice. "I wasn't asking for her...love," he added, the last word coming out in a tone of almost disgust. He crossed the little group again and then turned and faced them.

"I'm looking for a caretaker, for my rather large estate." He made a flourish with his hands. "It's her...or no deal."

"Get out," the king hissed. When Rumpelstiltskin made no move, the king shouted, "Leave!"

"As you wish," Rumpelstiltskin began to walk towards the door, his back as straight, his stride as straight and proud as if HE were the king, and not Maurice.

Belle could feel nothing but horror. This creature wanted her as a servant - the only thing she could think about on that matter was disgust. But this was the only chance from saving her family and friends from becoming ogre food. The only thing standing in between life or death for them was her.

"Wait!" she almost shrieked the words in her anxiety and desperation to make this foul creature stay and hear her words.

Rumpelstiltskin paused in mid-stride.

Belle ducked from underneath Gaston's arm and hurried towards him. "I..." the words caught in her throat, but she needed to get them out. HAD to get them out. "...I will go with you."

His eyebrows lifted in almost surprise. "It's for forever, dearie."

Belle had to take a good grip on her almost-failing courage in order not to scream or faint or do anything of the sort. "My family..." She tried to hide the hesitation in her voice. "My friends...they will all live?"

The vile creature made another flourish with his hands. It irritated Belle very much. "You have my word."

"Then you have mine," Belle said, quietly. She hated the words coming out of her own mouth, but relished them also a little bit in the back of her mind. Now that this was over with, she felt a little bit like one of the heroes in her books. Well, they were always men, of course, but, well...

"No!" Belle turned to see her father's face pale and aghast. "Belle, I can't let you go with this...this beast," he pleaded, the last two words spat towards Rumpelstiltskin with much hate and disgust in them. The beast in question opened his mouth in mock horror, rolling his eyes to the ceiling. Belle didn't find it funny in the least.

Belle stroked her father's arm with love. "Father...Gaston...it's been decided," she told the two men with a firmness in her voice that almost surprised her.

"You know...she's right." Belle was filled with disgust to realize that Rumpelstitlskin's voice was coming from a place right behind her.

Belle was sure that everyone in the room was feeling the same final-ness as she as Rumpelstiltskin said the words that ended the conversation.

"The deal...is struck."


	3. Chapter 3: Rumpelstiltskin

Rumpelstiltskin offered his arm to King Maurice's daughter with mock politeness and led her out of the room. She stayed silent and did not question, but Rumpelstiltskin knew that she was most likely wondering how they were going to get out of the castle. He, of course, knew that it wasn't going to be a problem, him being the Dark One. He had already used his mind to put a protective shield around the castle.

As soon as they stepped outside the castle, Rumpelstiltskin could already see the difference from the scenery that had been outside earlier on. The soldiers and ogres had disappeared - no traces of blood or any other indicator of a battle remained on the ground. One ogre was wandering around with a confused look on its ugly face, but Rumpelstiltskin snapped his fingers at it, and it shriveled away into dust.

The black carriage was waiting inside and Rumpelstiltskin motioned for Belle to get inside before him. Then he got in and they were on their way. The entire ride back to the Rumpelstiltskin's castle was silent. Belle didn't look like she were interested in talking with him, and Rumpelstiltskin didn't feel much up to talking, either. He felt a little awkward as he watched her looking despondently out of the window on her left out of the corner of his eye. He had destroyed her dreams, taken her family and friends away from her.

But what was he to do? A deal was a deal...and contrary to his joking tone, he did really need a housekeeper.

Why did he feel guilt? He was the Dark One - he shouldn't feel like this. He should be glad when he did something to get what he wanted. He had given up everything for this. What was happening to him?

To get his mind off these uncomfortable questions, Rumpelstiltskin continued to study Belle out of the corner of his eye. Her blue eyes were glazed over in contemplation, her petite face resting on a pale arm as she gazed into nothingness out the window. A lock of her brown hair had fallen onto her face, but she hadn't noticed it yet. Rumpelstiltskin had to admit to himself that she was beautiful, perhaps even more beautiful than...

No. Rumpelstiltskin shook himself out of his reverie with a scowl on his face. He couldn't go back to those painful memories. Not ever. He had his deals to think of...his things to look at and treasure. A silly girl shouldn't muddle his brain like this.

The carriage jolted and then stopped. Belle slowly came out of her daze and her eyes focussed on Rumpelstiltskin.

"Are we there?" her voice was filled with so much loneliness, pain, disgust, and despair all rolled into one that the ice on his heart almost warmed again and Rumpelstiltskin had to take a hold of himself before he could answer her.

"Yes." He tried to snap at her, but he couldn't.

He swung himself out of the carriage and didn't try to help her out. Once Belle was standing next to him, Rumpelstiltskin snapped his fingers at the carriage and the horses turned around and began trotting towards their hidden stable.

Belle followed him, trying to catch up to his long stride as he led her into the Dark Castle, through a few doors, up a staircase, and through more doors.

He knew where everything was, of course, but he could tell from the confused look that he saw on Belle's face out of the corner of his eyes that the castle was like a maze to her.

"Where are you taking me?" Belle finally broke the silence as they left a finely-furnished room and entered into a plain stone corridor.

"Let's say - Europe," Rumpelstiltskin answered her back, sarcastically. He was still trying to get a hold on himself again, and he found that getting back into the sentiments of the "Dark One" was helping him. So he opened the first door that they came to and stepped aside so that Belle could look into her new room.

Rumpelstiltskin felt his old strength coming back to him as he saw the shock on Belle's face. The room was scantily furnished, and while it was a lot better than any servant's quarters, it was a big downgrade from a princess' room.

"My...room?" Belle faltered.

"Well, it sounds a lot nicer than dungeon, doesn't it?" Rumpelstiltskin told her in a nasty tone.

He gave her a quick shove into the room, closed the door, and locked it. With a laugh that he had heard an old peasant woman describe as "so creepy it gave her the chills", he realized that he was back to his old self again. With growing pleasure, he strode away from the locked door. He would let the wench out later.

"You're not going to leave me in here!" Belle's gasp was muffled quite a bit by the thick door. "Hello? HELLO?"


	4. Chapter 4: Belle

_Thank you to everyone who commented on my story so far - namely, Rumple's Slave and ElvenPrincessOfNarnia. I'm glad you're enjoying the fanfiction so far - please keep on commenting. :)_

Belle sat on her bed and moped. She also thought about her past life and her  
present life and how gloomy her future life looked. She had a lot of time to  
do it because ther person who seemed like the worst on her to earth at that  
moment didn't unlock the door for what seemed like hours to her.

The room had grown dark in what seemed like ages ago. The door creaked as it  
swung open, and it took a moment for Belle's eyes to adjust to the light.

"You may come down for supper," Rumpelstiltskin's grousome face almost  
leered at her.

Belle was terribly hungry, but there was nothing in that world that would  
induce her to eat with that monster - at least at the moment.

"I'm not hungry," she lied.

Rumpelstiltskin raised his eyebrows, like when she had volunteered to go  
with him. "Are you sure?"

"Yes." Belle buried her face in her lap so she wouldn't have to look at him.  
She didn't look up again until she heard the door close again.

The next morning, Belle was even hungrier. She got up from her bed - it was  
very comfortable even though it looked like the bed of a peasant - and tried  
the door. It was not locked.

Creeping through the halls, Belle prayed that she would find the right way  
to the kitchen. However, she did not. After retracing her steps, she noticed  
a door that she had not seen before. She tried it.

In the room enclosed to her, a long wooden table stretched from one corner  
of the room to the other. A chair was at each end - and in front of one of  
the chairs, was a plate full of food.

Belle's eyes widened. Perhaps this place was truly magical and had a will of  
its own - or perhaps Rumpelstiltskin had left it there for her. Either way,  
she was too hungry to care. After quickly eating her fill, she managed to  
find her way back to her room. Such a miracle almost made her certain there  
was some magic at work here.

"I am ready for you to serve me my morning tea," Rumpelstiltskin stated when  
he came to her room that morning. "And I will give you further instructions  
then."

She followed him without a word back into the rooms with fine furniture,  
down a staircase, and through doors upon doors. This time, there was no  
roaming around aimlessly, yet they ended up in the very same dining room  
Belle had been that morning.

Rumpelstiltskin nodded at little table on the side of the room. There was a  
tea tray on it, with a silver teapot and several beautiful tea cups with a  
design of a blue tree branch on each one.

He took a seat at the other end of the long table from where Belle had taken  
her food from that morning. As she had suspected, the empty plate she had  
left was gone. As she walked towards the table with tray in hand, her yellow  
gown swishing around her, Rumpelstiltskin began to talk.

"You will serve me my morning meals, and you will clean the Dark Castle."

Belle set the tray on the table. "I understand," she said quietly, avoiding  
looking at him. She picked up the teapot and began to pour some tea into one  
of the cups.

"You will bring me straw for my spinning at the wheel," Rumpelstiltskin  
continued.

She nodded. "Got it." Setting down the teapot, she picked up the cup.

"Oh! And you will skin the children that I hunt for the pelts,"  
Rumpelstiltskin added.

Belle looked at him for the first time, in horror. She was so shocked that  
she forgot that she holding the cup - and it dropped to the floor. Brown  
liquid sloshed out over the hem of her beautiful dress.

"That one was a quip," Rumpelstiltskin grinned. "Not serious."

"Oh..." Relief washed over her, until she realized that she was no longer  
holding the teacup.

She quickly knelt down and picked up the cup, praying that the thick carpet  
had left it intact. However, to her utmost horror, there was small chip on  
the rim.

Her mind began to explore the possibilities of what would happen next. What  
would this beast do to her? She had already seen some very nasty behaviour  
from him, and that was when she had done nothing. What would he do when she  
had done something wrong?

Belle looked up slowly, her blue eyes brimming over with desperate  
expectation. "I...it's chipped," she confessed. She rushed on, trying to  
make the accident sound better. "It's very small, you can hardly see it."

Rumpelstiltskin looked at her with a curious expression on his face.  
"Oh...it's just a cup," he said, matter-of-factly. His tone clearly meant:  
It's no big deal.

Gratitude again overcame her, then surprise. Why had Rumpelstiltskin let  
this go? Could it be that he wasn't such a beast as she had thought? Perhaps  
he had just been in a bad mood yesterday.

Whatever it was, she was happy to still be alive.


End file.
